" As for the ‘settling of accounts’ that Bao-yu had proposed to Qin Zhong, we have been unable to ascertain exactly what form this took; and as we would not for the world be guilty of a fabrication, we must allow the matter to remain a mystery. "

― Cao Xueqin , The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 1: The Golden Days (Chapters 1-26)